Thursday March 2, 2006
Massive Mosaic
By ALLAN KOAY
At the Mosaic Music Festival this month at the Esplanade in Singapore, regional music lovers will get to savour live performances by several artistes rare to these parts.
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Miriam Makeba, South Africa’s legendary music ambassador, will be bringing her unique vocals to this part of the world at the Mosaic Music Festival. |
At press time, the show by acclaimed Norwegian folk duo Kings of Convenience has been sold out.
The Mosaic Music Festival, which was launched last year, returns to the Esplanade boasting more than 340 artistes from 15 countries, some of whom will be performing in Asia for the first time. The festival features jazz as its core programme, but also offers a great variety of world music and other genres.
Various venues, including the concert hall, theatre studio, recital studio and others at the Esplanade will be utilised to exhibit the diversity of this year's Mosaic programme. There is a gig for nearly every music taste-bud – you just have to make the choice.
March 14 sees Makeba taking her bow. This 74-year old darling of world music has survived a life of tragedy, tribulations and controversy to emerge as one of the greatest musical legends of South Africa. Known affectionately as Mama Africa to her legion of fans worldwide, the Johannesburg native had her start singing in a church choir.
Picking up on the influences of such jazz greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn, Makeba took to the professional stage, and was performing with the popular Manhattan Brothers before travelling with the African Jazz and Variety show for 18 months in southern Africa. She later managed to land the lead role in the show King Kong and also a part in the film Come Back Africa. As an international star, she has worked with Harry Belafonte to create the classics The Click Song and Pata Pata, and also joined Paul Simon on his Graceland tour.
On March 15, Metheny will be a rare sight in these parts when he performs with his current trio that comprises Christian McBride on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. McBride was one of the emerging “young lions” in the 1990s and Sanchez is the latest addition to the guitarist's main band, the Pat Metheny Group.
Metheny is one of those rare jazz musicians who are able to successfully and comfortably straddle both the mainstream and the contemporary, masterful in both straight-ahead and crossover settings. As a teen, the Kansas City, Missouri native was already teaching at prestigious music schools and playing with the best. In the 1970s, he got his big break with vibraphonist Gary Burton's band, and soon developed his trademark style which more closely emulates the habits of horn players.
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Acclaimed jazz musician and composer Pat Metheny will be performing at the Mosaic fest with his current trio which comprises Christian McBride on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. |
The inclusion of Si*Se, one of New York's best-kept secrets from the Latin down-tempo soul/electronica circuit is a big plus for the festival. The multi-cultural group, championed by former Talking Heads’ main man David Byrne, appears on March 18. With material from its Luaka Bop self-titled debut and the recent More Shine album, this forward-minded ensemble is a blissful proposition with sinewy bossa nova, spry jazz, Latin rhythms, snatches of hip-hop and lounge/ electronica to attract a warm welcome in these parts.
Other performers at the festival include dance-funk outfit Incognito (March 12), Cuban star Paquito D’Rivera with American vocal group New York Voices (March 12), innovative British jazz-funk musician Dennis Rollins (March 9-11), funkmeister and James Brown alumni Maceo Parker and pianist Hiromi Uehara (March 10), and the Afro-Cuban All Stars (March 18). Local and regional artistes include Malaysia’s very own Gerhana Skacinta, guitarist Paul Ponnudorai and guitarist/gambus player Farid Ali.
Metheny and Rollins will also be holding special workshops, while other activities include film screenings, visual art exhibitions and jamming sessions.
Free performances at the outdoor theatre range from Singapore indie disco collective Pop Tart to glam-rock outfit Tiramisu, jazz sessions from Farid “Mr Gambus” Ali, bluesman Paul Ponnudorai, hip-hop courtesy of Sheikh Haikel and more.
The Mosaic Music Festival will be held at Singapore's Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay from March 10 to 19. For ticketing, concert schedules and other information, visit (www.mosaicmusicfestival.com) or (www.sistic.com). The Sistic hotline is 02-63485555. Bookings in Kuala Lumpur can be made via Holiday Tours & Travel, Sentral Station in Kuala Lumpur (03-22732200).
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